LOS ANGELES—Already having proved its appeal in Miami and in the New York metro area, eXXXotica Los Angeles bowed this weekend for the first time downtown at the Los Angeles Convention Center in the shadow of Staples Center, home of the world champion Lakers.
Like superstar Kobe Bryant and his teammates, eXXXotica attracted a multitude of A-list stars for three days of selling products, promoting new projects and the de rigueur meet and greet with fans.
The inaugural L.A. show offered something for everyone, whatever your kink, as exhibitors from all sectors of the industry came together to offer fans a unique adult show experience. Exhibitors of “adult-lite” and other adult oriented products such as tee-shirts, smoking accessories, adult vacations and erotic art also showed their wares on the floor.
Set in the porn industry’s virtual backyard, just a few miles away from Porn Valley, eXXXotica L.A. came together in just about a month and a half in order to fill the vacancy left by Erotica L.A. this year.
Major exhibitors included HotMovies, Evil Angel, Belladonna Entertainment, BurningAngel, L.A. Direct Models, The Screaming O, Clips4Sale, MyFreeCams, SexAppShop and more.
Like past eXXXoticas, much of the action on the show floor centered around Fantasy Island, where major stars from Vivid Entertainment (Lia, Kelli McCarty and Sunny Leone), Wicked Pictures (Lupe Fuentes, jessica drake, Kirsten Price, Kaylani Lei and Alektra Blue), Adam & Eve (Teagan Presley) and Digital Playground (Kayden Kross) had its stars signing.
Presley was particularly excited to attend eXXXotica in order to promote Adam & Eve's new releases in conjunction with the studio she co-owns, skinworXXX. The company's upcoming high-end all-sex release, Deviance 2, whetted more than a few appetites.
Also signing at the Genesis magazine-sponsored Fantasy Island booth were McKenzie Lee, Tanya Tate, Francesca Lé, Alexis Texas and Chanel Preston, who was excitedly clutching the Chris Streams-directed Fashion Fucks from Jules Jordan Video—the new star’s first box cover.
“This is a big deal for me,” Preston told AVN. "It’s exciting to see yourself on a box for the first time. It’s also my first time signing at a convention, and I’m loving every minute of it.”
Also signing at Fantasy Island was Adrenalynn, who’s been largely absent from the scene for the past year in order to open up her own tattoo studio in Ft. Worth, Texas. The tattooed beauty, however, told AVN that she’s planning on shooting regularly again beginning in September.
At the Evil Angel booth a bubbly Sophie Dee told AVN that she was particularly excited about a forthcoming company release titled Rocco’s Psycho Love in which she, Kelly Divine and Ashli Orion each get double-penetrated by Rocco Siffredi and Lexington Steele. For the porn fan, that would seemingly be required viewing.
“I didn’t really think it could happen, but boy, do I love d.p.s now!” Dee said. “It’s definitely doing to be a big deal.”
Also at the Evil Angel booth were Andy San Dimas and Asa Akira, who dropped the dime to AVN when she coyly told us that she’d be doing her first anal scene soon. Who’s it for? You’ll just have to check back soon.
At the BurningAngel booth, Joanna Angel was busy promoting her new titles Rebel Girl, Bartenders and the first two releases from the company’s new Crushing On series, which feature extended looks at BurningAngel girls Draven and Kleio, who both flanked Angel at the company’s booth.
“I’m really happy with Rebel Girl,” Angel said about the movie that stars her and good friend Jenna Haze. “It’s a little mix of everything—POV, gonzo, vignettes. My scene with Jenna leaned heavily on reality and felt natural because we’re good friends.”
Angel also mentioned that she’s beginning production on Joanna’s Angels 3 later this month—the first volume in the series to be produced under the BurningAngel banner. The previous two volumes of the series were released by VCA Pictures.
Angel told AVN that Joanna’s Angels 3 stars her, Draven, Kleio, Cassandra Calogera, Kristina Rose and Tommy Pistol, who recently came back to performing.
The L.A. Direct Models booth was a flurry of activity all three days, as agency owner Derek Hay brought a cadre of stars with him. Also parked in the booth was the L.A. Direct Models customized Scion.
Adult stars representing the industry's biggest talent agency included Phoenix Marie, Krissy Lynn, Lexi Belle, Breanne Benson, Brynn Tyler, Amy Brooke, Kagney Linn Karter, Jennifer Dark, Diana Doll and numerous others.
“L.A. is home to porn,” Marie said. “These are our hometown fans, the people we live among, so it’s nice to be in the community meeting them and being sexy. They buy our movies and I always love meeting them all.”
At the back of the exhibit hall a large stage played home to numerous contests, shows and performances. Shows included the Newlywed Game, Sassy Assy Fashion Show, Ms. eXXXotica Competition, The Screaming O orgasm contest (won by Coco Velvett), Vivid Family Feud, Everything You Wanted to Know About Porn and even a performance by legendary rap group 2 Live Crew.
EXXXotica also boasted a compelling series of seminars comprised of industry professionals and performers with both business-to-consumer angles and business-to-business implications.
Kylie Ireland moderated "Are Women More Hardcore Than Men?," real life porn couple Alexandra Silk and Luc Wylder helmed "Keeping it Hot & Sexy: A Seminar for Couples," and Nina Hartley opined on "Healthy Sex."
The B2B seminars included a discussion on .XXX moderated by industry journalist Gram Ponante and included director Lee Roy Myers and this writer on the panel.
Jules Jordan was spotted walking the show floor on a relaxed Sunday and gave us a preview of his upcoming release slate that features Beach Patrol (previously reported here); and Breast Worship 3 starring Gianna Michaels, Penelope Piper, Cassandra Calogera, Sara Stone and Amy Ried.
Jordan also divulged to AVN that he’s starting pre-production on Ass Worship 12, which he joked was going to be his first parody title, with the working moniker This Ain’t Not Ass Worship 12 XXX.
But seriously, what goes into pre-production on a movie like this? “Watching a lot of porn,” Jordan said. “I need to do my research and see what new and exciting girls do anal. That’s my challenge.”
Also present with his own booth specifically for his recently released book, The Porn Star Guide to Great Sex, was newly-minted author Mr. Marcus, who told AVN that after he appeared on BET’s Mo’nique Show, the book shot from 400-something on the Amazon.com charts to number 20. The sex star will be hosting a book signing in Los Angeles at Book Soup on Aug. 20.
“The reception I’ve gotten to the book has truly been great; I’m extremely grateful that people are reading it,” he said. “Yes, it’s about how to have sex like a porn star, but it’s so much more. Sex is just as much psychological as it is physical, and this book is a full mind and body treatment, because sex and making love needs to be approached with your entire being. It’s about getting your mind right and having the confidence in the bedroom that you need to satisfy your partner.”
J. Handy of Victory Tradeshow Management, parent company of eXXXotica, told AVN that with right around five weeks of planning for the show, he was happy with the way it turned out.
“After doing five shows in Miami and the ones we’ve done in New York/New Jersey, it was just a matter of pulling it all together in a short time period,” he said. “With any new venue and location there’s a learning curve that goes into it in terms of rules and regulations and whatnot, but I’m pleased with the production and how it turned out.”
Handy estimated that between 12,000 and 15,000 consumers attended the show over the course of its three days.
“In this economy the attendance figures were OK,” Handy said. “They were slightly below expectations, but the fans that were here—the guys, women and couples—were buying products and spending money, which makes for a good show. The preliminary feedback we’ve gotten from the public has been very positive.”
The next eXXXotica Expo takes place in Edison, N.J. at the New Jersey Convention Center Nov. 5-7, and will return to Miami in May.
If you missed this eXXXotica fear not, Handy says the convention will be back in June.
